If any ask me what a free government is, I answer, that, for any practical purpose, it is what the people think so,and that they, and not I, are the natural, lawful, and competent judges of this matter.

Man is an animal that cooks his victuals.

It is in the relaxation of security; it is in the expansion of prosperity; it is in the hour of dilatation of the heart, and of its softening into festivity and pleasure, that the real character of men is discerned.

England and Ireland may flourish together. The world is large enough for both of us. Let it be our care not to make ourselves too little for it.

I do ride contend against the advantages of distrust. In the world we live in, it is but too necessary. Some of old called it the very sinews of discretion.

Nothing, indeed, but the possession of some power can with any certainty discover what at the bottom is the true character of any man.

Contempt is not a thing to be despised.